Sacked Juande Ramos had no idea the axe was about to fall at Spurs

Juande Ramos has been left stunned and hurt by Tottenham's decision to sack him after just 12 months in charge.

Ramos was fired on Saturday with the club having made the worst start to a League campaign in their history, but he had been under the impression that he would be given more games to turn things around.

The UEFA Cup defeat to Udinese proved to be the last straw for chairman Daniel Levy and Ramos was given his marching orders at the team hotel the night before the Bolton match.

The Spaniard was followed out of the exit door by sporting director Damien Comolli, assistant manager Gus Poyet and fitness coach Marcos Alvarez.

He will now spend the next few weeks sorting out his compensation and organising his move back to Spain, where Real Betis and Atletico Madrid are considering offering him a job.

Share this article

But a close friend of Ramos said: 'This has been a big shock and surprise to him - he wasn't expecting to be sacked before the Bolton game. He thought he had a lot more time to turn things around.

'Juande is obviously not feeling good about what has happened. He knew that the results had to get better, but he has been in this position before and was confident he would soon get them winning again.'

Ramos gave a brief statement on his official website yesterday, but was obviously constrained by the fact that his compensation package - which could amount to as much as £4million for the remaining three years of his contract - is still to be paid.

He said: 'The results are what counts in football and we all know how this world works. Now we just have to see if this decision is the best one for the team to recover and have a good season.'